BENNETT, Colo. — After learning about the water cycle, a fourth-grade class in Bennet was inspired to raise money to help others get the same access to freshwater they had been taking for granted every day.
Amanda Schneider teaches a class of about 22 fourth-grade students.
She said that while watching a music video for the "Water Cycle Song" some kids noticed images of water that was really dirty.
"They didn’t quite wrap their head around that you can take a clean shower, no problem... You know you know you have the choice to do that," she said. "You can walk down the hall and fill your water bottle up in the clean water fountain, and some people don’t have that luxury that we do."
The students were upset that not everyone had the same access they did.
"Somebody in the class said well, what can we do about it?" Schneider remembered.
So she suggested raising money to build a well.
But fundraisers are a little bit more difficult in the middle of a pandemic.
"We can't go door to door and sell chocolate bars like we used to. You can't exactly hold a lemonade stand and a bake sale," Schneider said. "So what could we do? They said well, we can be outside. We can plow snow, rake leaves, walk dogs, pick up dog poop! I can pick up my neighbor's dog poop for $5."
Schneider said her class ended up raising $4,800 for the well.
"Yeah, I was really excited that we raised enough money to build a well because some people, they don’t have fresh water, and we want them to have freshwater," said Kynzie Kirby, one of the fourth graders in Schneider's class.
Another classmate, Johnny Henderson, agreed.
"I’m proud of my classmates and myself," he said.
They are now looking up organizations that build wells for clean water in third-world countries.
"I’m not sure about many things," Schneider said. "I’m not certain about many things in my life, but I am 100% positive that this class is full of world changers. They are incredible, incredible kids."
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